I’ve begun a monthly Not Quite Light radio show with Reform Radio. The first one was broadcast at 5am on July 24th, with the next one due to go out in August. The hour long programme consists of a mixture of readings, interviews and music inspired by the half light of dawn. This is the ‘listen again’ link to hear the first epiosode: NQL on Reform Radio
In this episode of the Not Quite Light Podcast I spend dawn with those that feed us. I travel the city centre streets of Manchester with Dave, a milkman with Creamline dairies. I take in the smells and sounds of the wholesale market at Openshaw with Lucy Noone and her dad Mike, who run R Noone & Son, supplying fruit and vegetables to cafes and restaurants across the North West. And I watch fresh bread being made at the Trove […]
CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE THE SLIDESHOW FULL SIZED Whilst I was in Dartmoor the tail end of Hurricane Ophelia arrived, bringing with it sand from the Saharan desert. I could feel the energies of the ancient land be changed as nature raged across the moorland. THE FOLLOWING TEXT IS TAKEN FROM THE PODCAST BASED ON MY JOURNEY TO DARTMOOR. NQL PODCAST- DAWN ON DARTMOOR The house where I was staying on Dartmoor was in a hollow. Growing up […]
In this episode of the Not Quite Light podcast I visit Dartmoor in a hurricane, and also talk to Manchester artist Claire Riley about working at dawn in the city, and our need to sometimes escape. CLICK HERE to see a gallery of work from the journey. TO SEE ARTIST CLAIRE RILEY’S WORK BY CLICK HERE
The project “You Live With Us, We Live You”, which was commissioned by 5 Plus Architects, is now on sale as a limited edition book. 10 buildings are featured – 6 in Manchester and 4 in London. Each chapter contains a written piece and 6 images from the work. All of the money is going to charity. To purchase the book click here. You can also see a gallery of the photographs here. There is a podcast inspired by the […]
I’ve been intending to do a podcast for Not Quite Light for some time, and now they begin! I’ve published the first one. It’s inspired by the project “You Live With Us, We Live You” which was commissioned by 5 Plus Architects. I go on the roof of The Hive building in Manchester to watch dawn come up over the city, and chat to Jon Matthews from 5 plus. I also talk with whistling Way, the security guard on duty […]
CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE THE SLIDESHOW FULL SIZED ‘4‘ Exploring the Bridgewater Canal in Salford. Commissioned by Salford City Council EST 1761 and Heritage Lottery Fund Events are scheduled to for each section of the project.
BLUEPRINT STUDIOS, COLLIER STREET, 7.18AM The windows of Blueprint Studios glowed red, like a 4 bar electric heater. Behind me, an upstairs room in The Eagle Inn beamed bright tungsten light towards Trinity Way, like a lighthouse for those stumbling in search of the past. Behind both brick buildings the new, taller version of ancient Greengate had emerged, not quite facing in the same direction. I considered if the demolition of the Victorian architecture, and the emergence of the tower […]
-4- Canal boats traditionally travel at 4 miles per hour, which roughly equates to the speed of a brisk walking pace, and this significantly determines how the waterway is experienced. It allows us time to observe, whilst travelling, in a way often lost to us in the modern era. It’s also a constant thread back to our ancestors, who also would have journeyed along the Bridgewater Canal with the same measured progress. Over the four seasons of the year, I’ll […]
WATER STREET 7.07AM Yet again the weather forecast had failed me. Rain spattered into my glasses as the clouds above surged into the distance, following an unseen agenda that all below would simply have to cope with. Beneath where I was standing, near the Victoria and Albert hotel, a million droplets strafed the Irwell, causing the gulls to twist and swirl as if trying to throw off an attacking fighter plane. A business man stomped towards his large BMW, frowning […]